Archive for November, 2010|Monthly archive page

There has been a significant pause in updates on The Story, mainly because Oct/Nov is when lots of crunchy stuff like booking venues, talking to tech support and finalising speakers gets done. So apologies for the radio silence. We’re now booked up for speakers, so I can announce the last few who will be gracing the Conway Hall stage.

But first, a reminder that £5 from every ticket sold for The Story will be donated to The Ministry of Stories, a fantastic project in Hoxton based on Dave Eggers’ 826 foundation. The MoS launched last week in Hoxton, and has been getting fantastic publicity all over the media, including MoS Ambassador Nick Hornby on Radio 4 and a visit to No 10! As we’re a conference all about storytelling, MoS is clearly something we love and want to support as much as we can, and we’re hoping some of the ministers will be able to come along on the day and talk about the work they’re doing with young budding storytellers. So buy a ticket now!

On with the speakers:

Mark Stevenson is a comedian, author and futurologist who has spent the last year or so researching and writing his new book An Optimist’s Tour of The Future. The book is based on his belief that there are always two ways to tell stories about the future – a pessimistic one, which is often the easiest to find, and an optimistic one. He’ll be talking about his astonishing experiences, from underwater government meetings in The Maldives to doing stand-up comedy about Neuro-Anatomy at Harvard. I’m *really* looking forward to hearing him talk at The Story.

Adam Curtis is a documentary film maker who has created some of the most original and challenging documentaries of the last few decades. His films dig deep into the stories and propaganda of the twentieth century, weaving complex interconnections between the ideas, people and culture that have defined our times, and preserved the power of our elites. His ongoing blog for BBC uses the BBC archive to pick apart the back stories to contemporary events, from Mad Med era Madison Avenue to the No 10 ‘Nudge’ unit. There is no-one else right now who is more lucid, challenging and engaging on the subjects of media, propaganda, power and storytelling, so we’re really pleased to have Adam signed up.

Margaret Robertson is the development director for Hide & Seek, and will be this year’s MC for The Story. After Russell Davies’ brilliant hosting last year, I knew it would be tough act to follow, but Margaret is one of the most intelligent, witty and brilliant people I know. What she doesn’t know about storytelling or gaming isn’t worth knowing. In fact, she should probably be speaking, but I’ve asked her instead to be the seemless glue holding the whole event together. No pressure, then Margaret.

So that’s pretty much it! There’s a chance there might be a late special guest, but I think the day is looking amazing as it is. If you’ve got a ticket – thanks! and I look forward to seeing you there. If you haven’t, or if you know someone who hasn’t, please buy one now!